Of course my work would not be done if I hadn't posted a photo of a bug. Here's a humdinger. Oren found this "small" scorpion on his squishy pillow the last night we were in Nicaragua. It thought it was cool! I didn't think it was cool. 
This is a beautiful fruit that we found in Nicaragua. I think it is a sort of cactus flower. It looks like an artichoke from the outside. Once you cut it open it is full of a very subtle, sweet fruit, with very small seeds. The first time I saw it was in an ice cream flavor. Then we began drinking it all the time in cafes. A little lemon or lime juice is added to give it more flavor.
Here's the drink!
Central America is full of volcanoes. Some are extinct and some are still active. This is a laguna that is in the crater of a volcano. The water is quite warm and spring fed. It is slightly salty.
The market is Masaya is full of local crafts. It is mostly for tourists but this was a local woman and her daughter trying on a beautiful typical costume.
This is a photo of some of the beautiful things for sale in the same shop.
The market is Granada is huge. It takes up at least a city block. There are many vendors, like these women, who sell things along the streets near the market.
There was one block full of booths of shoe repairmen. 
This is a woman, inside the market, making tortillas.
We went to Granada and a few other places in the area for the day. Granada is the oldest city in the new world. It was settled in the 1500's. It sits up on a hill above lake Nicaragua. There was a lot of damage from the 2000 earthquake. The country is trying to restore the damaged buildings in an authentic way.
The main square is the center of the city. There are many vendors selling lots of things, food, drinks and souvenirs. There were also many people begging.
We ate lunch at a lovely typical Nicaraguan restaurant right off the main square. When we finished our meal a man who had been offering shoeshines asked if he could take our leftover food. 
Carriage rides are a popular activity for tourists.
This was a really fun place to hang out!
Snacks, mad libs, could life get better?
Ah....
Just a cute picture I couldn't resist including!
There was a rustic little "soda" at the beach where the surfers hung out. You could actually stay there for $5. a night. No, gracias!
Oren found a lot of crabs!
A big one!
Surf's up!
We enjoyed the waves. The water was really warm. The beaches along this part of Nicaragua are really famous for great surfing but the storms in the Atlantic is early September changed the wind. Something about off shore and on shore.
We spent a lot of time at the beach, playing in the water, collecting shells, rocks and observing tide pools. We found lots of crabs, both hermit crabs and ghost crabs.
This is the good old muddy dirt road to the beach!
The rocks and shells were really cool.
Here we are at our home away from home. It was lovely!
Each family lived in their own 2 bedroom casa. It was very quiet.
Our trip to Nicaragua was scheduled during the first break of the boys' school calendar, September 7-14. They had finished the first theme or six weeks of classes. We went with two other American families to a small beach town called San Juan del Sur, in the most southern part of Nicaragua on the Pacific Coast.
Sunday morning we woke up and the three moms set out to explore the town (hunting and gathering) and to pick up some food for the week. We took a shuttle bus which operated between the town and the beach. When we got off the bus it was a little overcast but very hot and humid. We all agreed that these pretty, elevated houses reminded us of New Orleans. 
We took a short walk along the beach and sniffed out a local fisherman (literally). Carol, who was our official spokesperson, talked to the man and he proceeded to bring us absolutely beautiful fillets of fresh fish. I'm not sure what it was, Pongo is a common fisk in the area, along with Snapper and some others. The fisherman told us they also catch tuna and other large fish from time to time. I took a picture of the fish's head for later identification but I will spare you that image.
From what we could translate, this seemed to be the local municipal building where the town offices are located. It looked a little like a frat house to me.
We were waiting for a bus one morning and the boys spotted a group of armadillos crossing the road. They were moving pretty fast and picked up their pace once the boys started following them. The were running around in the bushes and finally the armadillos took refuge in a small culvert. This guys is just peaking out to see if the coast is clear.
Ah, the ubiquitous coati. These guys are related to raccoons and they are just as cute and annoying. They are very friendly and don't shy away from humans. They love trash. They also climb trees like monkeys. They are very agile and walk out to the end of long thin branches to nibble on leaves.
Anyone recognize this moth? A pair of these came to our TV/window viewing area one night. They are really big, about 4" or 5" across. They seemed to be very active at night, possibly eating smaller bugs on the window. Further research is necessary.
Another unknown specimen. This is a VERY large caterpillar. Artie put his finger up to show the scale. We don't touch many things here unless we know they are harmless because so many things are not harmless and we are a long way from the Emergency Room of a hospital!
OK, you need to be REALLY, REALLY, REALLY REALLY impressed and glad that I survived my run in with this Mountain Lion, or Puma. I was walking through an area called the "Bull Ring" because it is where the bulls used to be kept. It's a really pretty somewhat open meadow completely surrounded by forest. There are a few big trees throughout the meadow itself. So anyway, it was about 1:30 in the afternoon and I was on my way home. Suddenly I stopped, as I saw some movement in a tree up ahead. (One thing you learn quickly here is that any movement=animal). I didn't know what it was at first but I watch the Puma climb about 7' off the ground, climb out on a short branch, kill something (I could only hear that part) and come back down the tree with its kill in its mouth. Then I realized it was a Puma. I quickly pulled out my camera and took the best picture I could from a distance. I ruled out getting any closer. Pumas are rarely seen here and even more rarely during the day, hunting. As soon as the Puma turned and saw me it dropped the prey and ran into the woods. It took me a while to decide what to do. 1. Continue on the path as if nothing happened (don't think so). 2. Run as fst as possible back to my friends' house (maybe). 3. Take a really big detour FAR, FAR, FAR, FAR away from where the Puma had been (ok, might work). I made it home and immediately put the picture on the computer to show Artie, who doubted me of course. The picture isn't really clear but I am pretty happy that i had my camera with me and got a shot at all.
Here's a GIANT, SCARY bug called a Tarantula wasp.
Here it is trying to take off. It looks like it can barely carry its own weight when it's flying.
Here it is against the side of our house.
Our landlord, Fred, went out behind our house to find the resident tarantula one night and found that all that was left was this really cool looking exoskeleton. It's fun to put it out when friends come over! 
The inside of the main body section is really cool looking.
This is right outside of the building where art classes take place.
You can see the huge amount of broken tile!
Each class presented a song. Ethan is hiding in the back row on the left.
Oren's teacher, Jesse, plays the guitar and leads the group in singing.
This is the typical Costa Rican dance and costume.
Oren's class sings a song!
Transportation in the area is varied.
Downtown... Doesn't get much more exciting than this!
Maybe this is more exciting. This is the grocery store load dock. Any chocolate on that truck?
Motorcycles are probably the fastest way to get around, but also the most dangerous.
